The present invention relates to disposable pants having a fit gather laminate in which an elastic member is provided between a pair of upper and lower non-woven fabric sheets, and a method of manufacturing the same.
As described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-197920, for example, a method known in the prior art of manufacturing a briefs type body fluid absorbing article, including the steps of: transferring a back sheet having waist gathers in the longitudinal direction while folding the back sheet downward at a predetermined interval, supplying a waist side elastic body in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface of the back sheet being transferred, supplying a holding non-woven fabric in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface thereof, and bonding the waist side elastic body and the holding non-woven fabric on the back sheet except for the downward folded portions; cutting off the waist side elastic body and the holding non-woven fabric integrated with the back sheet along the top edge of each downward folded portion of the back sheet, and then unfolding the downward folded portions to make the back sheet back into a sheet form, thereby forming a back sheet having the waist side elastic bodies at a predetermined interval; bonding a body fluid absorbent to areas of the back sheet after the previous step where the waist side elastic body does not exist; cutting out leg hole openings in the back sheet after the previous step, and then dividing the back sheet by cutting it off along the center line of the leg hole opening into individual intermediate products; and folding in two each intermediate product with the waist side elastic body and the body fluid absorbent being located inside, and bonding together the waist side sections.
The method of manufacturing a body fluid absorbing article described in the above-identified publication provides the following advantage: the waist side elastic body is provided in the left-right direction except for the widthwise center area and the longitudinal center area of the body fluid absorbent, thereby reducing the area on which the waist side elastic body is provided and thus reducing the material cost; the waist side elastic body is supplied in the direction in which the back sheet is transferred, thereby increasing the speed of the production line; and it is possible to obtain a body fluid absorbing article that can be easily worn by stretching the waist side elastic body, and that provides an improved fit to the body without giving a feeling of excessive pressure to the wearer.
However, in the case where the operation of transferring a back sheet having waist gathers in the longitudinal direction while folding the back sheet downward at a predetermined interval and supplying a waist side elastic body and a holding non-woven fabric on the upper surface of the back sheet, the operation of bonding the waist side elastic body and the holding non-woven fabric on the back sheet except for the downward folded portions, and the operation of cutting off the waist side elastic body and the holding non-woven fabric integrated with the back sheet along the top edge of each downward folded portion of the back sheet, are performed, the operation speed needs to be reduced since these operations are difficult to perform, and it is necessary to provide a folding mechanism for folding the back sheet downward, thereby complicating the structure of the manufacturing apparatus.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has an object to realize a high-speed manufacture of disposable pants having a fit gather laminate in which an elastic member is provided between a pair of upper and lower non-woven fabric sheets, without complicating the structure of the manufacturing apparatus.
Disposable pants of the present invention include: a fit gather laminate in which an elastic member is provided between a pair of upper and lower non-woven fabric sheets in a widthwise direction thereof, with the elastic member being secured on areas of the non-woven fabric sheets except for a widthwise center area thereof and being cut off along the widthwise center area of the non-woven fabric sheets; a reinforcement sheet secured on a lower surface side of the fit gather laminate in the widthwise center area thereof; an absorbent provided on an upper surface side of the fit gather laminate; and a back sheet provided on a lower surface side of the reinforcement sheet.
With the structure described above, the elastic members are provided in areas of the non-woven fabric sheets forming the fit gather laminate except for the widthwise center area thereof and the elastic members are allowed to shrink/stretch, whereby they can be securely worn, while the shrinking/stretching force of the elastic members is prevented from acting upon the widthwise center area of the fit gather laminate, where the absorbent is provided, thereby forming the area where the absorbent is provided in a flat shape. Moreover, the reinforcement sheet is secured on the lower surface side of the fit gather laminate in the widthwise center area thereof, whereby areas where the elastic members are cut off are reinforced by the reinforcement sheet.
A method of manufacturing disposable pants of the present invention includes: transferring continuous materials of a pair of non-woven fabric sheets forming a fit gather laminate and a continuous material of an elastic member provided therebetween in a longitudinal direction thereof while intermittently securing the continuous material of the elastic member on the non-woven fabric sheets; cutting off the elastic member along with the non-woven fabric sheets along a non-secured area thereof; securing a reinforcement sheet on a lower surface side of the fit gather laminate at a position corresponding to the non-secured area of the elastic member while providing an absorbent on an upper surface side of the fit gather laminate; and providing a back sheet on a lower surface side of the reinforcement sheet.
With the structure described above, the elastic members are provided in areas except for the widthwise center area and the areas are allowed to shrink/stretch, while the shrinking/stretching force of the elastic members is prevented from acting upon the widthwise center area, where the absorbent is provided. Moreover, the reinforcement sheet is secured on the lower surface side in the widthwise center area. Therefore, disposable pants having the fit gather laminate in which areas where the elastic members are cut off are reinforced by the reinforcement sheet can be manufactured at a high speed using a manufacturing apparatus having a simple structure.